Greens Greens Greens!

It must be winter in Southern California.

My husband picked up the veggies this week at the CSA and ooh-boy, are they full of greens!  Craziness I say.  I know what we are eating this week.

Allow me to list:
kale - 2 bunches
chard - 1 bunch
"spicy greens" - 1 bunch
lettuce - 2 heads
spinach - 1 bag
turnips (with greens) - 1 bunch
beets (with greens) - 1 bunch
(We also got cauliflower, marinara, oranges)

So.  My goodness.

Today I fired up a pot of water with the steamer insert and started washing.

I first washed and steamed the turnip greens and beet greens, and put them in a bowl when done.

Then I washed and steamed the chard, and chopped the stems and tossed those into the crock pot with the black bean soup that's in there (recipe from Budget Bytes).

After that I washed the spicy mix and tossed it in there.  Generally the spicy mix is used in salad.  I could have done that and mixed it with the lettuce and spinach.  But I find it to be really spicy.  And as I suspect that we will be getting the spicy mix for several weeks, I decided to pace myself.

While the spicy mix was cooking, I smelled a strange burning smell. I  turned it off and moved it into the bowl.  Here's the bowl:

After it cooled, I pureed it in the food processor.  My favorite ways to eat greens are in soup, in frittata or quiche, as an Indian curry, mixed with an Asian sauce, or creamed.

These are destined to be creamed with cream cheese and parmesan.

As I started to wash the mountain of dishes, I noticed that the burning smell was the bottom of my big pot.  Ugh.  It's soaking right now, while the beets and turnips roast.

Does anyone have a good turnip recipe?  I admit, I don't care for them.  I've tried them many ways, but mostly end up choking them down with potatoes.

Kale and Quinoa salad

A friend brought this salad to a meeting, and it was SOO good I had to make it.  I adjusted it the same way she had (lemon juice/zest instead of preserved lemons, almonds, and a different type of vinegar).  It was really good.  Not quite as good as hers, but still really good.  I hope to make this often.  Usually, I just make kale chips (they are in the oven right now!!)

We had this one night with baked lemon chicken that was cooked on a bed of vegetables.

Then I found this recipe for almond raspberry coffee cake in the latest Taste of Home magazine.  It was actually a recipe in an advertisement, not the actual magazine.  But I made it and it was yummy!  Husband liked it.

Tomorrow is Easter!  We'll be cooking up a ham.  We enjoyed some time this week (it was Spring Break) at Knott's Berry Farm.  Sadly, Los Angeles traffic SUX and we spent 3 hours getting there and 4 hours getting back for a 2 hour drive. Blech.

Pork sliders and kale chips

I love kale chips.  You know it.  Had them for dinner today.

Busy weekend with a trip to the zoo - as we left they were setting up for Zoo Brew.  Lots of youngun's with pretzel necklaces and beer cups.

Today we took a trip up north to pick blueberries.  I wanted to go before I was too close and going to risk early labor.  We picked 6 lbs of blueberries, got 4 bottles of wine (I am a member at a winery, and it turns out I've missed 2 pickups in December and March...gee, wonder why?), and came home with a really sore back.

Then I did some work.  I worked quite a bit on Saturday...we bought a docking station for our laptops and large screen.  We canceled cable TV and upgraded our internet to faster.  It's great that I can work from home more easily...and it's bad that I can work from home more easily.  But today the network at work was slow, and it was an exercise in frustration, so I gave up early.

We've been busy washing and freezing blueberries for later this summer.  For dinner, I winged it.  I bought some small King's Hawaiian rolls from the discount rack at the grocery store.  I defrosted some pork loin and some enchilada sauce from the freezer.  I made up a concoction of the pork, black beans, onions, zucchini, enchilada sauce, and peach/mango salsa (to sweeten it up).  Served on the rolls with some avocado.  Quite delicious for just making stuff up.

As I was looking for the enchilada sauce in the freezer, I found a container labeled October 2010.  It had ice crystals.  I tossed that, along with some frozen persimmon that was probably from the same year.  Gotta do better at keeping up with the random freezer stuff.

On the Menu: spaghetti, meatballs, rice, lentils

I didn't have much in the way of leftovers from this weekend.  I was sick as a dog all weekend, and am still recovering.  I did get my wonderful husband to make meatballs from meat I bought at the farmer's market.  $7 a pound, but happy cows and so delicious.  It's a treat in our household.  The crushed red pepper made them a little too spicy for our son.  Every once in awhile you'd get a spicy bite.

I put them on top of skillet spaghetti and we had sauteed broccoli raab on the side.  The finished product: (my son's plate).

Spaghetti was definitely on the menu this week, as I also made cashew sesame noodles, to use up the cilantro we got from the CSA.  Love those noodles.  Still eating them for lunch.  And easy.  Boil pasta, make the sauce in the blender.  Toss.

Other nights were definitely meant to be easy.  I could have made them easier.  I made rice and lentils.  The lentils were from a pouch "Tasty Bite" Madras lentils.  The rice was just white rice in the rice cooker, but my son complains that he doesn't like rice.  He does, really.  But he likes "orange rice" (spanish/mexican rice at restaurants).  So I made the rice then sauteed it in a pan with onion, tomatoes (for the red), turmeric (for the yellow - makes orange!), and cumin, pepper, and oregano.

I topped this with avocado, and then made kale chips on the side.  My husband was LATE (he made our Costco run) and I had to do them myself this time.  They weren't bad!

Up tonight is leftovers, more kale chips, and some soup from the freezer (potato spinach).

Up this weekend is cook a ham on Saturday...the one day a year I cook a ham, and prep for the week.  Doin' the single parent thing next week, hubby is on a business trip.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Boy, has it been a busy weekend.  I had a bad work day on Friday, followed up by not feeling well in the evening (and not sleeping).  My hubby went out for burrito takeout because he didn't feel like leftover bean burgers or salmon patties.  I ended up not being hungry for my burrito either.

The rest of the weekend has been a flurry of activity.  The season of "birthday parties" has begun.  Saturday I quilted at a class while the fam attended a party.  Sunday we attended another party while hubby worked.  I worked on a quilt today for our school auction.  I have only 11 days to finish it, and my walking foot broke today.  So that has slowed me down tremendously. I'm still pretty sure that I can finish.  I will have to buckle down and do a little bit every night.  This probably means we are eating at the coffee table most nights this week.  My sewing table = dining room table.

We spent the afternoon making 3 kinds of cupcakes for my son's birthday, while joking about cupcake wars.  Dinner wasn't ready until 8 pm (which is really 7, right?)  By the way the cupcake recipes - one from Elie Krieger (chocolate cupcakes), one lemon cupcake, one vanilla cupcake (from this month's Fine Cooking, also Elie Krieger).  I liked the cupcake recipes because they called for whole wheat pastry flour, and are a LITTLE bit healthier (less sugar), and some substitutions also - a little less butter.  We didn't frost them - that's a no no in my son's class.  Nobody wants 26 kindergarteners hopped up on sugar.

I wanted something easy tonight after the cupcake afternoon.  I chose vegan spicy peanut noodles with vegetables, from Wildly Affordable Organic.  I won't post the recipe here, but it was easy and delish.  Well, it WOULD have been easy, but I ran out of peanut butter, and had to spend 15 minutes stirring up the new jar, which is a real arm workout.  My version had the stir fry greens from the CSA - no kale this week, just cabbages and bok choy and tatsoi.  I also had carrots and broccoli stems...I just got tired of trying to get all the aphids out of the florets...they went into the compost.  I didn't make it very spicy, but happily put on sriracha at the end.  Definite keeper.  There are a lot of vegan and vegetarian recipes in that cookbook. I highly recommend it (and the E-books at Cook For Good, if they are still available).  Mostly the same recipes.

And one day last week, I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich for breakfast.

Split Pea Soup and Greens

Well, this weekend I made a huge (4.5 lb) pork roast in the crock pot with tomatoes, salsa, peppers, and spices.  We ate it for 5 days, put the 2nd half in the freezer last night, and wouldn't you know it, I didn't take a single picture.  I would have thought the 3 of us could eat it all in 5 days, but I guess not when we are only eating it for one meal.

The other meal was a big pot of split pea soup (you can find the link in my favorites tab).  I did remember to take two (nearly identical) pictures of those meals, with some focaccia and salad one night, greens the next.

I also cooked up some dried beans from the CSA this week, and those will be featured prominently in...something.  And tonight's menu is the last of the soup plus some cole slaw "Japanese style" from the CSA flyer.

Greens!

It's definitely been "bag 'o greens" season at the farm, and we've been getting a kale/cabbage mixture (several different kinds of each).  I've put it in soup, creamed it, stewed it, but mostly, I like it stir-fried with Trader Joe's Island Soyaki sauce.  Because it's easy.  Wash, chop, stir-fry, add a little water, steam 5-10 mins, remove lid to dry out, add sauce, heat through, remove from heat.

We also got some brussels sprouts last week.  I roasted them last night.  This week was supposed to be "all you can pick" brussels sprouts at the farm (free to members), but they canceled it due to an extreme aphid infestation.  Which manifested itself in my broccoli today. Oh boy, it was bad.  I soaked/ rinsed about 10x, then boiled to within an inch of its life, then skimmed off the aphids and rinsed again.

My neighbor gave me the tip to try vinegar in the water.  I will next time.

This week's CSA had kale, lettuce, baby arugula, bag o greens, broccoli, radishes, cabbage, dried beans, and jarred marinara.

Sorry for the quickie, but I have a sick kid on my hands!

Black Bean Chili and Beer Bread and GREENS

Lots of greens this week from the farm.  And I had a head cold most of last week, so I wasn't feeling the green veggies.  So I'm playing catch up.  Salad for lunch with "spicy greens" - which my coworker said looked like lawn clippings.  Tasted a bit like it too. :)  Actually, there was probably a little dandelion in there.  I topped it with leftover tri-tip and some balsamic vinaigrette.  I keep some Trader Joe's dressing in my work fridge.

Broccoli and bok choy, with a cheese and tri-tip quesadilla

I've also been catching up on other greens.  Yesterday, it was kale chips (with the beer bread and black bean chili).  Today, it was stir-fried purple broccoli and bok choy (and leftover potato kale/cabbage soup).

Spicy greens, broccoli, kale, chard, red cabbage, bok choy.  I've been going nuts with the greens.

Kale chips and beer bread (with cheese and dill)

Black bean chili

For the Super Bowl, I decided to make two recipes that came via email from Farmgirl Fare. They looked perfect.  I'm not a huge football fan (unless we're talking the Steelers), and truth be told, we turned the game on around half time (I was cooking dinner and said "is that MADONNA? What decade is it?", and started watching somewhere in the 4th quarter.  Spouse isn't a football fan either.

These recipes were delicious.  The beer bread was tasty (and is the only way I'm gonna get beer for awhile), and the chili was awesome too.  I added some roasted poblano peppers, because I found them in the freezer.  I get a ton of them over the summer at the farm, and roast and freeze, then forget about them.  Some are really spicy and some are not, and I'm leery of adding too many to my food because of the kid factor.  Me, I love spice.

Oven Roasted Tri tip

Now, I didn't remember to take a picture.  Dinner was running a bit late.  But you know...it's tri tip.

I googled oven roasted tri tip, and got a few new recipes.  Wasn't sure where the old one was.  Most recipes call for roasting at 450F for a short period of time.  Brown on the outside, rare on the inside...yum yum.  Like on the grill.  2 problems with that:

1.  I'm pregnant.  Gotta make sure it's cooked through.
2.  If we cook meat in our oven at 450F, our smoke alarm goes off.  Every time.

So I found a new recipe on allrecipes.com that called for low and slow and a dry rub.  350F for an hour.  I keep forgetting that my grassfed beef tri tip comes in a package of two.  You'd think I'd know that by now.  Anyway, I put on the rub on both and tossed it in the oven.

"Safe" is medium rare and 145F.  Medium is 160F.  Ours came out at 160F.  And you know?  It was tender and delicious.  I think.  Because I'm still congested.  And I can't taste anything.  But my boys gobbled it up.  And my son's not much of a meat eater (probably because I was mostly vegetarian when I was pregnant).  But he loved it.

Served with a winter favorite soup of potatoes and dark leafy greens.  Today spiced with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  Couldn't taste it either.

Roast Vegetables and Stir-Fry Asian Greens and COOKIES!!

I love vegetables.  I bet you didn't know that. :)
This week from the CSA we got some baby beets, baby scarlet turnips, and cauliflower.  I decided it would be tasty to roast them all in olive oil with some onions and garlic.  But the baby beets were so...baby...I mean, they were all beet greens, that I was perplexed.  So.  I composted them.  The remaining veggies were great!  I roasted for about 40 minutes at 400F.

We also got some great Asian greens.  Kale, baby bok choy, tatsoi.  I love baby bok choi and tatsoi.  I stir-fried them quickly and put some of Trader Joe's Island Soyaki sauce on them delish!  And in the same Trader Joe's vein, we had breaded chicken cutlets.

I was also craving something sweet yesterday.  Bad me.  I thought about cookies, and where better to look than Love Veggies and Yoga.  I mean, all the desserts Averie makes - she's a pro.  I found her recipe for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies, and the rest was history! I cooked mine a little longer than she did, but they were still tasty.  My only regret is that I made bagels on Saturday and needed only egg white for that, but I needed an extra yolk on Sunday for the cookies.  Next time, I'll make them on the same day.

Potato and Greens Soup - CSA and a Fridge on the Fritz

Our fridge has been on the fritz.  I noticed on Thursday that the milk just didn't seem cold.  So I mentioned it to my spouse.  He vacuumed out the coils and all, checked various parts of the fridge, but it still didn't seem quite right.  So Friday, we called the Sears repairman.  It's a 10 year old Kenmore fridge.  I was starting to think that I might have to bring home my mini-fridge from the office.

Spouse met the fridge guy at home, and he diagnosed the problem.  It cost us 70 bucks for the diagnosis.  The fan in the freezer was not running.  I guess the way the fridge works is that there's a fan in the freezer that blows cold air into the fridge, but the fan had stopped running.  He tapped it and it started again, but noted that it probably needed replacing.  The cost for the part would be $90, and labor would be $200.  But he told my husband that there's a local store that would sell the part for $60, and all he had to do is remove four screws and plug the thing in.  So, being engineers, that's what we decided to do.  But oops, they aren't open on the weekend, so we've been spending our weekend constantly checking on the fridge.  It's gone out at least one more time.  Thank you Sears repair guy for the money-saving tip.

This week from the CSA we got organic Yukon Gold potatoes and a bag of mixed "stir-fry greens". This is a mix of dark leafies.  There's a few kinds of kale, and what looks like cabbage and radiccio, maybe some dandelion greens too.   I felt inspired to make soup based on a BBC show I watched on line, that was linked from this post of a blog that I really enjoy.  Turns out that soup makes you feel fuller longer.  And I've been loving my Blendtec since I got it for my birthday a couple of years ago.  I also have an immersion blender that I use for slightly chunkier soups.

I also pulled out my cookbook from Nikki and David Goldbeck called American Wholefoods Cuisine, and found a recipe for "Potato and Greens Soup".  I used their recommendations on how long to cook the soup with just the potatoes and after you add the greens. 

It was quite delicious, but needed a tad more salt.  I always under-salt my soup and need to add more later.  You can use water or vegetable stock instead.  I roasted two chickens of chicken parts last weekend, and saved all of the bones in the freezer.  So, step 1 of the soup yesterday was to make the stock.

Potato and Greens Soup
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
About 6-8 cups chicken stock (I just eyeballed it until it looked right)
1.5 lb potatoes, diced (I left on the peels because they are nutritious and were organic)
1 bag or 1 bunch greens
1/2 to 1 tsp oregano
1/2 to 1 tsp marjoram
pinch fresh rosemary ('cuz we had it)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)
S&P to taste

Saute the onion in olive oil in a pot until soft.  Add the garlic and saute one more minute.  Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil.  Add the oregano and marjoram.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile wash the greens and remove tough stems.  Remove cover on soup when potatoes have been cooked 15 minutes and add the greens.  Cover again and cook 15 minutes.  Add the rosemary. 

Move the soup to a clean, cool stockpot.  I find that when I want to puree the soup in the blender, I need two pots, and I need to cool the soup.  So I first move the soup to a cool pot (in this case, the one I had the stock in), and then after it cools about 5 minutes, I puree it in batches in the blender.  Then I move the pureed soup back to the original pot.  Makes more dishes, but it easier.

Once the soup is pureed, return to low heat and add the cheese, S&P.  Delicious!

Chicken Spaghetti Squash Parmesan, and my first brisket

Chicken Parm

Last night's dinner was chicken parmesan.  Now, I've made versions of this from scratch before.  As in, debone the chicken breasts, pound them out, bread them, fry them, make the marinara sauce, etc. etc.

This was not that kind of chicken parmesan.  I did use spaghetti squash instead of pasta and had to roast the squash.  It was good, but the only pesto I have left in the freezer is arugula pesto, and it wasn't as good as basil pesto would be.

Spaghetti squash chicken parm
1 spaghetti squash
16 oz marinara
olive oil
1 small onion
10 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cubes frozen pesto
4 cloves garlic
mozzarella and parmesan cheese
frozen breaded chicken tenders (From TJ's)

Slice the squash in half and scoop out seeds.  Place face down in a pan coated with cooking spray. Roast 1 hour at 375F.  Let cool.  Remove strings with a fork.

Saute onion and mushroom in oil.  Add squash strands.  Add pesto and combine well.

Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Layer veggie mixture out.  Place chicken tenders on top.  Top with marinara and the cheeses.

Bake covered at 350F for 15 min.  Increase to 375F, remove foil, and bake for 15-25 more min.  Delish!

I roasted the seeds!

Brisket

I also bought my first brisket at the farmer's market. I found a decent crockpot recipe.  And...we didn't like it.  The sauce was good, but the brisket was way too fatty and chewy.  So, maybe we screwed it up (spouse did it today - he had the day off).  How can you screw up a crockpot recipe?  Anyway, next time I just go with pot roast.

We also steamed up some baby kale and cabbage leaves and I made a cream sauce with milk, parm, cream cheese, garlic powder, and lemon juice.  I don't have a final photo, but THAT was great.

Pizza, Soup, and Hummus, Oh My! and Cupcake Wars

And cupcakes.  Let me explain first about the cupcakes.  Last weekend (the long holiday weekend), I vegged on the couch a bit and watched Food Network.  And I came upon Cupcake Wars.  Now, I do like my food TV and competitive shows.  I like Anthony Bourdain.  I faithfully tape Top Chef.  I enjoy a good episode of Chopped.  When I was on maternity leave 6 years ago (almost), I watched a lot of food TV while nursing my son (my husband ate like a king during those 3 months, and I watched so much that it was over a year before they showed an episode of Barefoot Contessa, Giada, or Rachael that I HADN'T seen.)

But these "challenges" and "wars" - not really into it so much.  Maybe it's because I'm not really into dessert.  But we caught the start of an episode, and lo and behold, one of the contestants was from Santa Barbara!  We have more than one cupcake shop in town, but Crushcakes Cupcakery is one we drive by weekly.  It's in downtown and on the way to the farmer's market on Saturdays. 

I enjoyed watching the show and so did my son (probably had something to do with it being cupcakes).  The editing on the show isn't that great.  I've seen 4 or 5 episodes so far, and it's pretty clear very early who is going to win. Thus far, it's always been the "pretty girl" (young and pretty, and I'm not exaggerating), and she gets a lot of air time.  So alas, our local girl came in 2nd (for the THIRD time). 

Yesterday, we (I) decided to stop at the shop after our grocery shopping.  Spouse picked vanilla (not lemon, who knew?)  Kiddo picked "peace" because he liked the frosting.  Mommy picked peanut butter cup.

We waited until after lunch and after a trip to the park to try out my son's new bike to eat them (and did that while watching another episode).  I am pretty amazed at the combinations of flavors they come up with and the decorations.  I'm pretty sure the contestants know the "theme" before the go (such as poker or surfing), so that they can take the decorations they need and design a final display.

The cupcakes were pretty good, but were $3 each, so they are a treat for sure.

On the home front yesterday, I decided to make hummus. I've had the ingredients forever, including an unopened jar of tahini, and have just been lazy and have been buying it.  I use the Cook's Illustrated method, which basically involves putting the water-based items in the food processor first (chickpeas, lemon, water, garlic, spices) and puree'ing them pretty fine, and drizzling in the olive oil/tahini mixture later.  Makes it really smooth.

How come the hardest part about making hummus is the 10 minutes that it takes to stir in the oil in the tahini jar??

Next up: Creamy cauliflower kale soup

I saw this recipe in my MIL's Martha Stewart Living magazine, and basically bought the magazine to try it out.  It is vegan, and tasted pretty good.  However, it uses water as a base.  So it could have used a little more seasoning.  Maybe extra salt, or some homemade stock.  I'll make it again, but with stock next time.  It's cauliflower, kale, garlic, onion, water, salt, pepper, and dill.  Pretty simple.  If you use the blender, it gets really creamy and frothy.  And we love soup in this house!

And finally: Pizza

You know me, I love pizza.  And I had some time, so I fired up the bread machine.  The bread machine makes it so easy.  To make the dough the way I like it, it still takes a couple of hours.  The bread machine only runs for 45 minutes, but there is a little bit of kneading, resting, shaping, resting, par-baking...much of this isn't necessary, but it's what works with my oven and pans.

This is our standard pie, with sauteed onions, pesto, cheese, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes.  Eaten with ranch and sriracha of course!

Beef Stew-fry

That is not a typo.  We got a LOT of greens last week from the farm.  And I didn't even eat all of them yet.  Hopefully the tatsoi is still good.  But we had a big bag of "braising greens" and some mizuna from the week before.

My son doesn't like "stir-fry", so I made a stir-fry in the stew pot and called it stew.  It has local grassfed beef, greens, onions, peppers, tomato, a soy-sesame sauce, with some of our home canned tangerine marmalade to give it some sweetness.  It's almost paleo (except for the marmalade), and it was tasty.  I made it last Thursday and have a teeny bit left for lunch tomorrow.

On the health front, I still have an awful cough...I think I may have bronchitis.  So I will be heading to the doctor's office tomorrow and see what they can do for me.  Ugh.  I get winded just trying to walk more than a mile (I still do it), and I am coughing up lots of phlegm.  It's been 2 weeks!

The beef, onion, and peppers

The braising greens (kale, chard, etc)

The finished product

Homemade Tomato Soup and Cooking with Kids

I know that lots of moms talk about cooking with kids, and how great it is.  I haven't done it much.  When my husband cooks with our son, it's usually a child-led "experiment" "let's add this!"

I tend to want to get the cooking done as quickly as possible.  So I try to put him off from "I want to play!" by cooking dinner.  It's painful.  Cooking, playing, and exercising have turned into major chores to me lately, and it's stressful.  So I've decided to change that.  I've been biking to work more, and walking places on the weekend (parties, the park) - incorporating exercise into my day.  It makes it more relaxing and fun.

Falafel and sauteed chard

I love greens. Particularly kale. I can tolerate collard greens if cooked long enough. But chard...I really want to like chard, but have had a hard time falling in love with it. Until this recipe. It was the first recipe that came up when I googled "chard recipes". Gotta leave it to allrecipes.com.

I did, of course, slightly healthify it, as I normally do. I cut the butter and oil in half (I mean...1/4 c. of fat? Really?) Maybe even cut it a little more. It was easy and delicious, and my son who yelled "I don't like it" ate it right up after he actually tasted it.

German Red Cabbage

I found this recipe from allrecipes, and it's here. I substituted some regular vinegar for cider (I ran out of cider), and used powdered allspice. It was very tasty and freezes well. We got a very big red cabbage from the CSA this week.

I love the CSA. I have learned to really love my greens, even the bitter ones. We've had plenty this winter and spring!

With the red cabbage, I made the sauce from the Sesame Cashew Noodles, and tossed it with cooked brown rice, steamed and chopped collard greens, and a can of mixed vegetables. Yes, I do sometimes eat canned veggies. When you buy them for an "emergency ration", you need to rotate them occasionally.

German Red Cabbage
1 red cabbage: 2.00
1 medium onion: 0.20
2 apples: 1.00
3/4 c. cider vinegar: 0.25
1/4 c. sugar: 0.31
1 T. butter: 0.06
1.5 c. water
1 tsp salt
6 peppercorns: 0.02
2 whole cloves: 0.02
1 bay leaf: 0.02
1/8 tsp allspice: 0.04

2tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water. 0.05

Total: $3.97 for a LOT of cabbage. Probably 12 generous servings. $0.33 per serving.

Click on the allrecipes link above to get the directions. It was really just cook everything except cornstarch and water in a pot for 1.25 hrs, then mixed in the cornstarch and water and boil to thicken.

Creamy Curried Cashew Greens and Chips

sorry for the fuzzy photo!

No, I'm not being "British", I mean actual chips.

You see, yesterday, we had a company meeting. They used to be about every 3 weeks, update of how things are going. They used to be at lunch time, but boy, that gets expensive. Since they moved them to the afternoon, I never go. Mostly because, I can't. I'm gone by then to pick up my kid from school. But yesterday was a school holiday and kid and hubby were home.

The snacks for these things are water, chips, and cookies. Now, I'm not a huge junk food fan normally. I don't mind salty snacks that are "natural". You know, corn, oil, salt. Or potatoes, oil, salt. But it's not something I like to keep around the house. However, I'm also not going to turn down free food.

As I grabbed a bag of baked BBQ Lays (I wouldn't recommend them...the Kettle BBQ chips I had for lunch were much better...uh...I have PMS, so sue me), my coworker Ed asked me "you going to blog about that?" I said "no, I didn't make it". You see, now there are 4 or 5 people who know about my blog at work, not just 2. So, I get some razzing now and then, but who cares really. It just means I have to think about what I post. :)

There were leftovers, so I grabbed some more for the road (as did everyone else). So Ed, this is for you.

Back to the greens...I have a new coworker (someone I've known for awhile), who is a member of a different CSA. I mentioned that I LOVE kale, and he's not really into it. Always composts it. So, I came in to work on Friday and found 1/2 dozen eggs (from different friend), avocado (from boss), and kale and a couple of clementines. Wow, it's awesome to be me.

In my attempt to work my way through my cookbooks, I found this recipe in Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair. I've had this cookbook forever, but have only made a few things. I've adjusted the recipe here, mostly because I didn't have the "curry paste" made, and I didn't want to make a couple of cups of it. So, I winged it and of course added garlic. I didn't measure much either so...these spices are approximate. This was really really delicious.

Creamy Curried Cashew Greens adapted from Feeding the Whole Family
canola oil: 0.06
olive oil: 0.11
2 large bunches greens - I used one kale, one collard: 2.00
1/2 to 2/3 c. cashews: 1.25
2 Tbsp soy sauce: 0.25
1/2 onion, diced: 0.20
3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole: 0.15
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger: 0.15

1.5 tsp cumin seeds: 0.10
4 whole cloves: 0.02
5-6 black peppercorns: 0.01
1/4 tsp dried mustard: 0.02
1/8 tsp allspice: 0.02
pinch cardamom: 0.01
1/2 tsp cinnamon: 0.05
1.5 tsp turmeric: 0.05
1.5 tsp coriander: 0.10

Total: $4.45 for about 5 generous servings (2/3 to 3/4 cup?), or $0.89 per serving

Grind the spices up in a coffee or spice grinder.

Wash the greens. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the greens, boil for about 8-9 minutes, depending on the type of green. Both kale and collards are pretty hardy. Drain in a colander, run a little cold water on them, and let them cool until you can handle. A metal colander works better for this, better heat transfer. But you can always take the top handful, squeeze dry, then run a little cold water on the lower hot stuff. In any event, squeeze dry and chop.

Meanwhile, cook the onion and garlic in 1 Tbsp canola oil until soft. Add the spices to let them "bloom" (heard that on Aarti Party). Here I added a little olive oil because it was too dry. Let cool a little bit.

In a blender, mix soy sauce, cashews, onion mixture. At this point, I had to add a little water to get it creamy.

Heat a little more oil in a frying pan (this step not totally necessary. You could do it in a pot without oil, but I like the crunchyness). Put in the greens and use your spatula to break up into small pieces. Because when you cook, squeeze dry and chop greens, you get clumps. I don't like clumps. Then add the cashew sauce and mix well to heat through and get that crunchyness. While you do this, wish you were either taller or stronger so that your right arm didn't get so tired from the stirring.

Serve.

Note, the only saltiness in here is from the soy sauce (I used no-salt cashews), and it was plenty flavorful.

We also made pizza. Hubby did the crust, worried that it didn't look right, looks the same as mine does. It was good.

Sunday Cooking Extravaganza - Meatloaf, biscuits, chard, turnips

Well, with two parties on Saturday (lunchtime kid's birthday and dinnertime BBQ), I didn't have to cook at all. But I made up for it on Sunday. A bunch of new (to me) recipes:

First up: beef and lentil meatloaf. I bought ground beef because I always seem to find recipes that call for it. But when I buy it, I never remember what they are. So I told my mom that I was going to make meatballs, and she said "meatloaf is easier". So I decided on meatloaf, but also wanted to stretch it with lentils. A search for "meat and lentil meatloaf" turned up a lot of recipes for lentil loaf, but absolutely nothing for a combination of the two. So, I made this up, starting with the meatball recipe.


Beef and Lentil Meatloaf
1 lb ground beef (free range): $5
1.5 c. cooked lentils: 0.20
1/3 c. oats: 0.10
1 carrot, shredded: 0.15
1/2 onion, diced: 0.15
2 cloves garlic: 0.10
1 T canola oil: 0.03
1/2 tsp italian seasoning: 0.05
S&P to taste
Total: $5.78 for 12 slices, or $0.48 per slice.

I sauteed half the onion in canola oil. Then I decided that it wasn't enough onion. So when I assembled the meatloaf, I added another 1/2 onion raw.

After sauteing the onion, mix all ingredients in a bowl. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Put meatloaf in the pan. Bake at 350F for one hour.

I should have added an egg, because it did fall apart a little bit. Still, very tasty. And frugal!


I made Martha Stewart's soda biscuits (thanks to my neighbor Michelle for serving them to me last week. I had to google the recipe as soon as I got home.)

Soda biscuits:
1 3/4 c. AP flour: 0.22
1 tsp salt: 0.01
1 1/2 T sugar: 0.02
1 1/2 tsp baking soda: 0.05
2 tsp baking powder: 0.15
5 T butter: 0.31
3/4 c. buttermilk: 0.48
Total: $1.24 for 8, or $0.15 per serving.

I also made sauteed chard with bacon, courtesy of Perfect Vegetables. (Only one slice of bacon.)
1 bunch chard: 2.00 (approx)
1 slice bacon: 0.28
1/2 onion: 0.15
1 clove garlic: 0.05
Total: $2.48 for 4 generous servings, or $0.62 per serving.

And finally, turnip chips, inspired by Mark Bittman. I cut the oil by 2/3. They weren't sliced thin enough (mostly they were 1/4 inch). I really hate turnips, unless they are baby turnips. But these weren't so bad. Best turnip recipe I've found that doesn't include a pound of bacon.


Turnip chips:
4 large turnips: 1.50
1 T canola oil: 0.03
s&p to taste
Total: $1.53 for three large servings, or $0.51 per serving.

Slice turnips 1/8 inch thick. Toss with oil, S&P. Bake on parchment lined sheets at 400F for 10 min. Flip. Bake another 10-15 min.

Total for the meal per person: $1.76



I love the CSA, but it does make for some interesting meal combinations from time to time.

Oh, and I burned the bacon. I got distracted. It happens.

Massaged kale salad and shell bean gratin

I've been reading/seeing massaged kale salad all over the blogosphere of late, especially the blogs that I read. So, I've been meaning to try it. I've been in a "kale chip" rut lately with the kale that we get from the farm. The 4-year old will chow on kale that way (the salad? not so much).

Today was the day. The only way I had time (because I had a track night) was to do it this morning and let it sit in the fridge all day. Boy, it took a lot of work. Curly kale, local, organic = lots of dirt and bugs to wash off.

But it was DELICIOUS. I used this recipe, left out the gorgonzola (I KNOW! Me! But I didn't have any), used raisins instead of currants, cut the salt in half, and cut the oil it half. Still, delicious!

Massaged Kale Salad
1 bunch kale, washed, stemmed, and sliced into ribbons: $1.50
1/2 apple, diced: 0.30
1/4 c. red onion, chopped: 0.20
1/3 c. toasted sunflower seeds: 0.25
2 T. cider vinegar: 0.05
2.5 T. olive oil: 0.32
1/3 c. raisins: 0.19
1/2 tsp sea salt: 0.02
Total: $2.83 for 4 large servings salad: $0.71 per serving

So, I massaged the kale with the salt and 1/2 Tbsp or less of olive oil, then mixed everything else together.

Shell bean gratin. This recipe came from a CSA newsletter (it origination with Chez Panisse Vegetables, I think) a few years ago, and we LOVED it, and never made it again. Until now. Wow.

Shell bean gratin
2 lbs. fresh shell beans, shelled: 3.00
4 Tbs olive oil: 0.88
1/2 onion, diced: 0.20
4 cloves garlic, pressed: 0.20
2 medium tomatoes, diced: 2.00 (I bought local, organic, heirlooms)
1 tsp sage: 0.10
1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs: 0
1 cup frozen chopped spinach: 0.33
salt and pepper to taste
Total: $6.71 for 4 pretty generous servings: $1.68 per serving

Put the beans in a pot and add enough water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer (covered), about 30 mins. Cool. Save the cooking water.

Saute onion, garlic, sage, and spinach in 2T oil until soft. Add tomatoes and cook another 2 min, until tomatoes break down. Add beans (WITOUT LIQUID) and salt and pepper, mix well.

Put beans in a small baking dish. Add enough of the cooking liquid to almost cover the beans. Drizzle over other two Tbsp of oil. Top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 45 min.

Add more bean water if it looks like it is drying out.

you could make it cheaper with dried beans and your own home grown tomatoes...